1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steam cooker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been proposed various steam cookers for performing cooking by using steam. Examples of the steam cookers can be seen in Patent Publication 1 and Patent Publication 2. For example, Patent Publication 1 discloses a steam cooking apparatus that blows steam into a food tray. Patent Publication 2 discloses a heat cooking apparatus that supplies superheated steam into a cooking chamber or makes steam in the cooking chamber overheated by radiation heating.
Patent Publication 1: JP-U 03-67902 (1991) (p. 6 to 11, FIGS. 1 to 3)
Patent Publication 2: JP-A 08-49854 (1996) (p. 3 to 4, FIGS. 1 to 7)
The steam cooking apparatus disclosed in Patent Publication 1 is an apparatus for professional use in which steam is supplied to a plurality of food trays from a steam supply pipe. The configuration is not preferable from the aesthetic viewpoint since the steam supply pipe is provided uncovered in the cooking chamber, and is not suitable for a cooker for home use. The applicable range of steam jet is limited due to the shape of the steam supply pipe and it is difficult to uniformly jet steam to foods (i.e., object to be heated) in the cooking chamber. Since steam, which has heated food, is exhausted via a steam exhaust port straightaway or condensed to be drained through a drain pipe, in order to continue cooking, a large quantity of steam has to be continuously supplied from the outside, and a boiler of high steam generating capability is required. Necessitating such large amount of energy, this kind of steam cooking apparatus is not suitable for home use.
In the heat cooking apparatus disclosed in Patent Publication 2, steam is not blown toward foods whereas it is generated in the apparatus itself. Since an external boiler is not used, the apparatus can be used in a home. Steam is circulated and used in the cooking chamber, so that energy efficiency is high. However, foods are cooked with steam in a manner such that the object to be heated is cooked by being surrounded by steam which is introduced into the cooking chamber or generated in the cooking chamber. The ability of the cooking apparatus is insufficient in terms of promptly transmitting large quantity of heat to foods to cook them quickly.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a steam cooker of high heating efficiency. The present invention also reduces the quantity of dissipated heat without being used for cooking.